STOP THE BOMBING!
U.S. HANDS OFF THE BALKANS

On March 24, the U.S. military and its NATO allies unleashed a campaign of
missile attacks and bombings against Yugoslavia, a country in southeastern Europe. The
U.S. accused the Yugoslav government, based in Serbia, of sending new forces through the
countryside of the Kosovo Region threatening the Albanian-nationality people there.

There will be coverage of this new U.S. aggression, and exposure of the real
imperialist motives behind this attack, in issue 1001 of the RW, which will appear in
early April. Until then, here are some excerpts from earlier RW articles which contain
important background and insights for understanding what is behind this U.S. attack and
why it needs to be opposed.

U.S. Goals: Influence in Belgrade and Stability for U.S. Alliances

"NATO has no intention of going to war with Serbia,
on behalf of an independent Kosovo."

"Senior NATO
official" quoted in the New York Times (Oct. 9, 1998)

U.S. moves in the Balkans are based on two basic assumptions: first, that Serbia is the
strongest Balkan country, where the U.S. wants to focus its influence. And second, that
the key U.S. interest in the area is to prevent a spread of instability--particularly to
prevent the heightening of tensions between Greece and Turkey, two U.S. allies in the
region.

The NATO plans for airstrikes are designed... to intensify conflict between the Serb
military high command and the Yugoslav President Milosevic. They want to work with and
through the genocidal Milosevic government. They want to encourage forces within the
Yugoslav government, especially in the military, to consider replacing Milosevic with some
new reactionary who might be more in tune with Washington's desires.

While carrying out this pressure and intrigue, the U.S. has been careful not to
directly oppose key goals of Serbian nationalists--and specifically, not to question their
right to dominate Kosovo against the will of its people.

The U.S. ruling class does not want an independent "Republic of Kosova"
because they believe its existence would increase Albanian separatist sentiments in
western Macedonia. The U.S. wants Macedonia stable (even if the Albanians there are badly
oppressed) because instability in Macedonia might disrupt U.S. alliances in the eastern
Mediterranean.

The U.S. plan for Kosovo--for continued Serbian domination of Kosovo, with foreign
monitoring of Albanian rights--is extremely dangerous for the people of Kosovo. It places
their future safety in the completely unreliable hands of the U.S. and its NATO allies.
And it hands the U.S. and NATO another ongoing excuse to intervene and scheme in this
region.

The U.S. Can't Do Any Good

Some people might be tempted to say, "Well, of course the U.S. is acting out of
its own reactionary interests. But the U.S./NATO threats against Serbia might still do
some good, by causing the Serbs to back off and give the Kosovar people some relief."

In fact this is not true. And the whole history of U.S. intervention in previous Balkan
conflicts shows that it is not true. The U.S. is applying military threat and pressure in
this region for its own cold-blooded interests--and it will cynically use, abuse, and
betray the Kosovo people whenever that serves those interests.

U.S. attacks and pressures in the world are intended to accomplish one thing--increase
the ability of the U.S. imperialists to dominate, exploit and bully people. When the U.S.
acts as "global policeman" it strengthens its control and serves its
interests. In the Balkans, like everywhere else, those interests are sharply opposed to
the interests of the masses of people. The U.S. is the most powerful pillar of the world
capitalist system. Its control of different parts of the world means only that the people
there can be more deeply exploited and their countries plundered and restructured to serve
U.S. profits.

U.S. Hands Off the Balkans!

From: Yugoslavia: The Fight Over Kosovo RW #949, March 22, 1998

Brutal Suppression of Albanian People

Kosovo is a poor, largely agricultural province in Europe's Balkan region, about the
size of Vermont. Ninety percent of Kosovo's two million people are Albanians; 10 percent
are Serbs. After World War 2, Kosovo became part of Yugoslavia, which Marshal Tito called
a "socialist" country. Actually, it was socialist only in words, while
operating a state-capitalist society in reality. After Tito died, the leaders of
his ruling "League of Communists" came out openly as capitalist politicians and
(in most cases) as extreme nationalists. The government of the largest Yugoslav republic
fell into the hands of Slobodan Milosevic, who annexed Kosovo directly into Serbia. Though
Kosovo is 90 percent Albanian, extreme Serbian nationalists say the province is
"Serbian" because it contains sites that they consider "sacred." These
Serbian chauvinists routinely use a genocidal, Nazi-like lingo when discussing
Kosovo--often comparing the mostly Muslim Albanians to "fast breeding insects."

Albanian people were purged from jobs in the area's state-owned economy and replaced by
people of the Serbian nationality. Teachers were forbidden to use the Albanian language in
school. A thousand professors were expelled from Kosovo's universities. The whole school
system has been shut down for seven years. The extreme, reactionary nationalist forces
running Serbia's government were setting the stage for an "ethnic cleansing"
campaign in Kosovo.

The Albanian people of Kosovo organized resistance. A shadow government was set up, and
a 1991 referendum overwhelmingly approved a call for independence from Serbia. Students
and teachers organized underground schools in private homes--to continue education in the
Albanian language.

Attempts at negotiation with the central Serbian government led nowhere, and an armed
movement attacked Serbian forces by selectively assassinating police and informers. This
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) calls for independence for Kosovo, merger with the Albanian
regions of Macedonia and ultimately unification with neighboring Albania. Such plans are
said to have broad support.

With this Serbian massacre in Prekaz and in other nearby villages the fighting in
Kosovo has started to erupt into open warfare. Government forces are trying to brutally
surpress the just struggle of Kosovo's Albanian people.

Imperialist Interests

U.S. and the various powers of Europe have denounced the Serbian atrocities in Kosovo.
But, the U.S. and the other major powers are not nearly as hostile to Serbia's chauvinists
as their current public statements are intended to sound.

There is a so-called "Contact Group" of six powers (United States, Russia,
Britain, France, Germany and Italy) which is working to impose its arrangement on the
region--supporting continued Serbian domination of Kosovo while calling for an end to
Serbian government atrocities. They threaten mild sanctions on Serbia if its government
does not cooperate.

The fine print of virtually all imperialist statements denounce the Albanian fighters equally
with the Serbian government. In fact the U.S. envoy to the region, Robert Gelbard,
essentially gave the green light to Serbian counterinsurgency during a visit to
Belgrade in February. He described the Kosovo Liberation Army as "without question a
terrorist group"--the exact language used by the Serbian government to justify the
armed attacks in Kosovo. The New York Times writes: "No one in the West
challenges Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo or the right of the authorities to put down an
armed insurrection there." For seven years, the Albanian people have been brutalized
and suppressed in outrageous ways--and the great powers have found that acceptable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has armed forces across the border in Macedonia. U.S. plans under
Clinton have been to contain Albanian fighters within Kosovo and prevent them
from crossing over into Albanian regions of western Macedonia. This would supposedly
"contain" the conflict to Kosovo--while making it easier for the the Serbian
army to hunt them down. The U.S. concern is that this fighting not spill out of Kosovo's
borders and trigger a wider war that might draw two U.S. allies, Greece and Turkey, into
conflict with each other. The U.S. has all along been extremely interested in expanding
relationships with Serbia's government in Belgrade--and has consistently supported their
claim to Kosovo.

All this shows, once again, that the imperialist interests in the Balkan region have
nothing to do with easing the suffering of the people--and everything to do with
guaranteeing the stability of their own domination over this region.

The Albanian people are bravely resisting Serbia's armed forces. And meanwhile, many
reports suggest that the masses of Serbian people, though influenced by nationalism, have
little enthusiasm for following the hateful Milosovic regime into yet another unjust war
of "ethnic cleansing."

This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Onlinehttp://rwor.org
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